MONDAY MAVERICK#21 : F.C. KOHLI - ARCHITECT OF INDIA’S IT REVOLUTION

Introduction

Faqir Chand Kohli (1924–2020), often hailed as the “Father of the Indian IT Industry,” was a visionary technocrat who foresaw the transformative power of information technology long before it became mainstream. In 1975, addressing the Computer Society of India, he warned that missing the IT revolution would be unforgivable, just as India had missed the industrial revolution. His words were not mere rhetoric — they became the guiding principle of his life’s work, shaping Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and, through it, India’s digital destiny.

A powerhouse of intellect

Born in Peshawar in 1924, Kohli’s academic journey was marked by breadth and rigor. He studied English, applied mathematics, and physics at Punjab University, before pursuing electrical engineering in Canada and a master’s in systems engineering at MIT in the United States. Returning to India in 1951, he joined Tata Electric Companies, as an engineer and later became Director of Planning. where his pioneering ideas laid the foundation for India’s national power grid. He was deeply involved in studying transmission efficiency and system losses.

Kohli was then working at Tata Electric Companies as an engineer and later became Director of Planning. He was deeply involved in studying transmission efficiency and system losses. In 1963, he authored a paper recommending high‑voltage transmission lines. The paper was not solicited by the government; Kohli himself authored it after analyzing India’s fragmented regional grids. He submitted it to the Ministry of Energy/Power, Government of India through Tata Electric, as part of Tata Electric’s recommendations for national infrastructure planning, arguing that a unified national grid would maximize efficiency and reduce costs. Tata Electric backed his proposal because Kohli demonstrated how higher voltage transmission would reduce line losses and improve reliability. His advocacy influenced government policy, eventually leading to the creation of the Power Grid Corporation of India decades later.

The TCS era begins

By the late 1960s, Kohli’s reputation as a problem‑solver was well established. When J.R.D. Tata sought leadership for the newly formed Tata Consultancy Services in 1968, Kohli was the natural choice. He joined in 1969, at a time when India had no IT industry to speak of. Under his stewardship, TCS became the crucible where methods, talent, and ecosystems for IT were forged. He recruited engineers, accountants, and science graduates, while building deep collaborations with IITs, IIMs, and engineering colleges to modernize curricula and strengthen R&D.

Global footprints and domestic vision

Kohli’s strategy was twofold: win global clients to establish credibility, and simultaneously ensure Indian institutions benefited from IT. Early projects ranged from payroll and accounting for Indian banks to software solutions for international clients. TCS delivered its first full software lifecycle project for a UK housing society and later secured contracts with the Swiss Securities Clearing Corporation and the National Stock Exchange. His insistence on quality at competitive costs, especially after the 1973 oil crisis, positioned TCS as a trusted partner abroad. Yet Kohli ensured that nearly 20% of TCS engineers worked on domestic projects, even though they contributed less than 10% of revenue, because he believed India’s modernization required homegrown digital solutions.

The Y2K opportunity and beyond

In the 1990s, when the Y2K crisis threatened global systems, Kohli saw opportunity. TCS processed and corrected over 700 million lines of code — nearly 30% of the world’s total — cementing India’s reputation as a reliable IT powerhouse. This momentum carried forward, and by 2018, TCS became the first Indian company to cross $100 billion (over six trillion rupees, nearly 25% of India’s GDP in 2018) in market capitalization, later ranking as the world’s second most valuable IT services brand.

Building people, not just projects

Kohli’s leadership style was as transformative as his vision. He mentored generations of leaders, including S. Ramadorai and N. Chandrasekaran, instilling confidence by challenging them with complex problems. Ramadorai later wrote that Kohli’s relentless problem‑solving culture turned ordinary professionals into world‑class leaders. When TCS went public in 2004, investors were not buying campuses or machines — they were buying the collective knowledge and talent Kohli had nurtured. That culture of audacious problem‑solving — born from his refusal to follow conventional mentoring — became the company’s greatest asset. In hindsight, his unconventional style of building people rather than projects was the very essence of his maverick legacy.

Personal Side of a Maverick

J.R.D. Tata’s faith in Kohli was not just professional but personal — he saw in him a rare technocrat who could lead India into the IT age. Outside the boardroom, Kohli lived a life of simplicity and discipline. Married to Swarn Kohli and father to Ravi Kohli, he remained deeply committed to education and social causes, working on adult literacy programs well into his 90s. His family life reflected the same values of rigor and service that defined his professional journey.”

Legacy of a nation‑builder

F.C. Kohli retired in 1999, but his influence endures. He laid the foundations for India’s IT revolution, ensuring that technology became central to the nation’s economy. His foresight, optimism, and uncompromising standards transformed TCS into a global leader and positioned India as a digital powerhouse. As N. Chandrasekaran aptly said, Kohli’s legacy is one of optimism and ambition — a legacy that advanced not just a company, but an entire nation.

F.C. Kohli is no longer alive — he passed away on November 26, 2020, at the age of 96, reportedly a heart attack.  He was the founding CEO of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and is remembered as the “Father of the Indian IT Industry.”  His successor was S. Ramadorai, who took over as CEO in 1996 and continued until 2009, before N. Chandrasekaran and later Rajesh Gopinathan carried forward his legacy.  He was Awarded the Padma Bhushan fin 2002 or his pioneering contributions to India’s IT revolution.  

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